November 11, (THEWILL) – Mauricio Pochettino has spoke about his time playing alongside Austin “Jay-Jay” Okocha.
The PSG manager, who played alongside some of the best players in the world, including Okocha, during his playing days at Parc de Princes, was discussing the football wizardry of Jay-Jay and his other teammates.
Pochettino referred to Okocha, Ronaldinho, and Anelka as “amazing” in a recent interview in Ligue 1. The 49-year-old manager said: “Well, the first day I arrived, the first goal that I scored at the Parc des Princes… to have the possibility to play with players like [Jay Jay] Okocha, Ronaldinho… Yes, to be in the Parc des Princes with our fans…
“They were amazing. I don’t know, many many memories. Twenty years ago, of course, this with Okocha, Ronaldinho, Anelka… Many players were amazing.”
THEWILL recalls that between 2001 and 2002, Okocha and Pochettino were teammates for Paris Saint-Germain. The Nigerian legend scored 12 goals in 84 outings for the Ligue 1 giants.
In 2002, the former Super Eagles captain left Paris for Bolton Wanderers, where he played for four years with the team in the English Premier League. Later in his career, he played in the Qatari league before finishing with Hull City.
Okocha is regarded as one of Africa’s best players ever. He was a member of the victorious African Cup of Nations (AFCON) team in 1994. The Enugu native also won gold with Team Nigeria at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta.
On his part, Pochettino began his management career at Espanyol in 2009, after retiring as a player. After bad results and financial issues, he left the team in 2012. In 2013, he was appointed as the manager of Premier League team Southampton, where he led them to an eighth-place finish in the 2013/2014 season, which was equal to their highest Premier League finish.
In 2014, he joined Tottenham Hotspur, where he was league runner-up in 2016/2017 and a UEFA Champions League finalist in 2019. After a succession of disappointing results in 2020, he was fired. Invl 2021, he became the head coach of Paris Saint-Germain, where he has assembled a team strong enough to challenge for every trophy.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
